


Heart

by soer



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-02
Updated: 2013-12-02
Packaged: 2018-01-03 07:05:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1067486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soer/pseuds/soer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gravity of Peter’s secret is something even Wendy does not fully understand, especially in regard to Peter’s own chaotic thoughts. One thing is clear to both of them though: if he has the chance, he’ll snatch her back in an instant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Companion to [Weakness](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1066326)

He had known, from the moment that she step foot onto the island, that she was special. He had thought his Shadow was making a mistake when it brought her, a _girl_ instead of a boy to the island, and he brushed it off, because it was understandable. Everyone made mistakes and though it was instructed to only bring boys, there were times that it did in fact bring girls. Why should this child be different than any others? He entertained himself with the girl for a while, like a child receiving a new present, but eventually he tired of her. Well, that was what he told himself. Actually, he had her sent away because she brought to him feelings that he couldn’t understand. Feelings that confused him, and he didn’t like being confused. But when she slipped up and told him she had _brothers_ , well, he had his Shadow return her immediately, with an order to fetch back a boy instead. His Shadow had just been confused, he felt with relief. She lived with two boys; it was no wonder that it had thought her one of them.

Peter didn’t know what to make of it when the girl had stepped foot onto the island a _second_ time. He thought he had been rid of her, for good. And yet here she was, back in Neverland like she never left. She had come for her brothers, but Peter hadn’t understood how she returned. He had explicitly told it to never bring her back. And yet here she was, hands on her hips and _demanding_ for him to release her brothers. She had returned because his Shadow had brought her back.

She had called, and it had _answered_.

Answered _her_.

He had her brothers returned, but the deal he made forced her to stay on the island. Because Peter was curious to know why the Shadow had listened to her, a mere girl, when it had obeyed him and no one else for centuries.

So he watched the girl, determined to figure out what exactly was so special about her. But he couldn’t figure it out. She was too ordinary, too plain, _how on earth could she be special?!_

So caught up in his bewilderment he almost missed it, the most obvious clue.

His Shadow, it followed her, lurking around invisibly like a silent protector everywhere she went on the island.

Why would it do that? Did it have a _crush_ on her? The thought was preposterous. It couldn’t feel _love_ of all things! That was ridiculous!

And yet it followed her every chance it could, and the knowledge of it drove him _mad._

So he cornered it one day, and demanded an explanation.

The simple response drove a sword into his heart, and by god, it was so _ridiculous_ that he found himself laughing, thinking his Shadow was making a _joke._

But it wasn’t.

And the truth came crashing down on Peter like a pile of falling bricks. Everything made sense after he knew, every little thing, down to the smallest microscopic details that he had dismissed because it had been so tiny.

Wendy Darling, a mere human girl, was exactly that, save for one single _outrageous_ detail. _She_ was the heart of Neverland. And that didn’t make her ordinary anymore. No. Aside from himself and the Truest Believer, _she_ was now the most important person to Neverland. In fact, she _outranked_ him, even if she didn’t know it. And she would never know it, if he had any say in it. He liked his power and didn’t want to share or worst yet, be _ordered_ around. No, he would never tell her. But he would keep her. All that mattered was that she stayed on the island. It would be easier if she was happy, but to give into to that feeling of wanting to treat her like something _precious_ was something he fought against stubbornly. He had been alone for far too long.

Peter didn’t know how she had come to possess the heart of Neverland--all he knew was that the island had _known_ the second she stepped foot on its soil. He had been too daft to understand it at the time, but how could he have ever been experienced when the event in itself was so unexpected and _rare?_ All the years he had lived on the island and never _once_ had such a thing occurred. But when she arrived, it had _known_ , and it had _thrived_ , more alive than it had been in centuries. And when she left the first time around, the change was slight, but even so, it had been affected, because it had already connected with her.

So it was no surprise that his Shadow fetched her when she called it the second time around, and how the island hummed with content to feel her once more.

He hadn’t notice anything the first time around because he had been too wrapped up in finding the Truest Believer to see anything else.

Now, he possessed the heart, but he understood that it would all be for naught without Wendy on the island.

He knew that even with the Truest Believer’s heart, eventually his power would fade and he would die without her there by his side. So he would just have to hold onto her, and never let her go.

-

Peter laughed with internal amusement as he stood there, for the moment unable to move. They had used some kind of spell to hold him in place, but he was far more powerful than them, and it was only a matter of time before he would break free. Really, it was amusing, their faith that they would be able to hold him off long enough to escape. Even so, he still had Henry’s heart. They would never leave without it.

Peter might have been stalled for the moment, but it would fade. In the meanwhile, he attuned himself to the island. He might have been stuck physically, but the island was his conscious, and he wanted to be privy to their plans so that when they implemented them, they could see just how badly outmatched they were.

One matter worried him. His Shadow couldn’t be sensed anywhere on the island. Actually, it was still there, but treading its mind, Peter knew it to be trapped. Well, wasn’t that a surprise? They had actually done something interesting. Peter turned his attention back to searching for the group of adults, and _listened_.

He found them easily enough, what with the way they were crashing about everywhere so noisily, running rampant and wild in their haste to escape, escape from _him_ , from the island, a race to recuperate and come up with a plan before he broke free, and came after him, like they knew he would. Not surprisingly, they were headed for the sea, mostly likely to climb aboard the Jolly Roger and sail off as soon as they were able to. They had stopped for a moment, and then Peter felt the presence of Rumpelstiltskin on the island once more. So, they had managed to get him out of that nasty box. But he smirked, knowing they must have stopped because of one thing: that he had revealed to them his little _secret_.

Suddenly though, he froze. Wendy… was with them. Even though he knew that they would take her along (hero-types like them could never live with themselves if they left such a girl alone with a _villain_ like him) it was still a little shocking for him to find her with them. He focused more; interested to know how she was getting along with the group of _saviors_.

...

They knew.

He hadn’t quite understood it, how he had known, but he _knew_ , as surely as he knew when the sun rose and set, that Wendy had in some way _told_ them about something very, very special, and very, very secret. And now, they were attempting to run, with her alongside them.

And then all trace of his humor vanished and he was left to fill with quiet rage. How _dare_ that bird reveal something like that to _outsiders!_ To _adults!_ When she didn’t even understand all of it, what it would _mean,_ if she were to leave! Even in rage, he was acutely aware of when the spell broke, no longer trapping him in place, and he shot off towards the sky like a descending comet.

 _Wendy-bird, Wendy-bird, how_ dare _you attempt to leave this island_ , Peter thought maliciously. _You may run all you like, but don’t you dare think that you can_ ever _fly away. You belong_ here, _with_ me _._

**Author's Note:**

> Written: November 25th – December 2nd 2013


End file.
